Snap-on back guide for printing press



Oct. 29, 1957 G. E'. RUNYoN 2,811,354 SNAP-0N BACK GUIDE FOR PRINTINGPRESS Y Filed oct. 14,1955

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INVENTOR GERa/n/*o'n United States Patent 2,811,354 SNAP-ON BACK GUIDEFOR PRBNTING PRESS George E. Runyon, Tulsa, Gkla. Application October14, 1953, Serial No. 385,909 8 Claims. (Cl. 271-60) This inventionrelates to a novel snap-on back guide for printing presses and which isprimarily adapted to be mounted on the feeder board of a verticalprinting press to function as a back guide for properly positioning thesheets fed from thefeederboard to the print-ing cylinder and so that theleading edge of the sheets will be properly positioned to be engaged bythegrippers of the printing cylinder.

It has been customary practice to drive tacks into the upper surface ofa feeder board to provide stops for the back or trailing edge of sheetsbeing fed from the feeder board to the printing cylinder grippers.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to providea back guide which will eliminate the need for resorting to thispractice and which will save considerable time in providing a properlypositioned back guide for sheets of any size.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel detachable backguide for use with conventional feeder boards and which is adjustablymounted on the feeder board and includes adjustably mounted stop membersfor setting the back guide to accommodate sheets of any size capable ofbeing handled by the feeder board.

A further object of the invention is to provide a back guide havingnovel means for resiliently retaining the guide in different adjustedpositions and for enabling the guide to be mounted on feeder boardswhich vary 1n size.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure l is a top plan view of the back guide in an applied position;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional vew partly inelevation thereof, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by theline 2 2 of Figure 1;

-Figure 3 is an enlarged cross sectional View taken substantially alonga plane as indicated by the line 3 3 of Figure 1;

.Figure 4 is a plan view of a blank from which one part of the backguide is formed, and

yFigure 5 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of a portion of the backguide.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the back guide in itsentirely and comprising the invention is designated generally 7 andincludes a bar 8 formed from an elongated strip of a resilient material,preferably spring steel. The bar 8 at one end thereof is provided with adownwardly extending integral portion 9 which is inclined inwardly withrespect to said bar so as to be disposed at an acute angle thereto. Thedownwardly extending portion 9 terminates in a U-shaped bend 10 fromwhich projects an upwardly extending leg 11, constituting one end of thestrip forming the bar 8 and which extends upwardly and inwardlyrelatively to the bar 8 in upwardly diverging relationship to the barportion 9, so that said portions 9, 10 and 11 constitute a substantiallyV-shaped end portion of the strip forming the bar 8. The upper end ofthe leg 11 terminates beneath and slightly spaced from the underside ofthe top portion. of the bar 8. Said upper end of the leg 11 is cutlongitudinally near to but spaced Yfrom its side edges to provide sideedge portions vwhich are bent outwardly to form laterally spaced tangs12, as best seen in Figure 3, which are disposed below and on eitherside of the narrowed upper end portion 13 of the leg 11. The other endportion of the strip forming the bar S is bent to provide a downwardlyand inwardly extending hook or latch portion 14 which is disposed at anacute angle to the straight intermediate portion of the bar 8 and theterminal portion of the last mentioned end of the strip forms adownwardly and outwardly extending projection 15 which extends from thelower end of the latch o1' hook 14 to form a finger grip, as willhereinafter be described.

The guide 7 also includes at least two stops, each designated generally16 and each of which is formed from an elongated piece of relativelythin material such as sheet metal as illustrated in Figure 4 includingportions 17 and 18 bent along a transverse line 19 for positioning theportion 18 over the portion 17. The portion 17 is disposed against theunderside of the intermediate portion of the bar 8 and between said barportionV and the upper surface of a conventional printing press feederboard 26. AThe portion 18 extends transversely across the upper side ofthe bar 8 and is provided at its outer end, which is located remote tothe portion 17, with extensions located adj-acent the side edgesthereof, as seen in Figure 4. Said extensions are'bent inwardly and back-upon themselves around the bar 8 to form hooks 21 which extend alongthe underside of the harto adjacent the portion 17, as seen in Figure5.; The portions17, 18

and 21 when folded as illustrated in Figures l Vto 3 and 5 form laslide, designated generally 22, which engages slidably around thehorizontal portion of the bar 8 which is located above the feeder boardV20 for sliding movement longitudinally of the bar. Said slide hassucient frictional engagement with the bar 8 tobe normally maintainedagainst casual sliding movement relatively thereto. Each of the stops 16also includes an elongated tongue 23 forming an integral extension ofthe end of the slide portion 17 which is located remote to the slideportion 18. The tongue 23 is substantially narrower than the portions 17and 18 and is spaced from the side edges thereof and extends from thebottom slide portion 17 outwardly between the hooks 21. The tongue 23,near its outer free end, is folded along the three transverse fold lines24 to provide a two ply upstanding tongue portion 25 which is disposedtransversely of the tongue 23 and which forms an abutment, as bestillustrated in Figure 3. The tongue 23Vincludes an outer portion 26disposed beyond the abutment 25 having a rounded outer edge, as bestillustrated in Figure 5, for a purpose that will hereinafter bedescribed.

The feeder board 20 is of a conventional size and shape and is supportedin a conventional manner, not shown, with an inner edge thereofpartially overlapping a print- 4ing cylinder 27 which is equipped withconventional grippers 28.

In order to apply the back guide 7 in a properly adjusted position, theprinting press is placed in operation and the automatic feed, not shown,is allowed to feed a sheet of paper 29 into engagement with the grippers28. As said grippers close on the leading edge of the sheet 29, theprinting press is stopped. The tangs 12 are then hooked under theright-hand side edge of the feeder board 20, as illustrated in Figures 1and 2, and the slides 22 of the stops 16 are slid along the bar 8 untilsaid stops are 20 toward or away from the cylinder 27 until the backedge of the sheet 29 abuts against the two abutments 25. When the guide7 is thus disposed, the latch portion or hook i4 is sprung around theleft-hand side edge of the feeder board 20 by manually gripping thelinger hold 15 and the guide 7 is then completely applied. As the latch14 is snapped over the left-hand edge of the feeder board 20 the leg 11yields away from said latch 14 and toward the leg 9 and is placed undertension so that the portions 13 and 14, which are normally disposedslightly closer together than the distance between the edges of theboard 20 which they engage, will frictionally engage or grip the boardedges to retain the guide 7 immovably on the feeder board 20. The tangs12 and latch 14 will also tend to displace the bar 8 downwardly towardthe feeder board 20 and so that the slide portions 17 and tongues 23Vwill be maintained in frictional engagement with the upper surface ofthe feeder board to prevent sliding movement of the stops 16longitudinally of the bar 8. With the back guide 7 thus mounted, theIabutrnents 25 will function to properly position additional Sheets 29automatically fed to the feeder board 20 so that the leading edge ofeach sheet will be correctly disposed beyond the inner edge of thefeeder board to be automatically engaged by the grippers 28.

It will also be readily apparent that the resilient leg il n will enablethe guide 7 to be mounted on feeder boards which vary slightly in lengthwithout requiring the use of a guide 7 having a longer bar 8. The guide7 is also Well adapted for use as a sheet positioner for platens ofother types of printing presses.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventionas hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A sheet positioning device for use with a printing press comprisingan elongated bar adapted to extend across a sheet supporting board andhaving end portions adapted to engage opposite edges of the sheetsupporting board for mounting the bar thereon, a plurality of sheetengaging members slidably supported by said bar above the board eachformed from a single elongated strip and including a slide portionslidably engaging around both sides and both edges of the bar foradjustment of the sheet engaging member longitudinally of the bar and toprevent turning or transverse movement of said member relative to thebar, said sheet engaging members each including a tongue extendinglaterally from the bar and having an upstanding transversely disposedportion forming an abutment adapted to engage an edge of a sheet to beprinted and coplanar end portions between which said upstanding portionis disposed.

2. A sheet positioning device as in claim 1, one of said end portions ofthe bar constituting a downturned portion having an inwardly andupwardly turned back terminal part forming an upwardly extending legprovided with an upper free end disposed beneath and spaced from anupper portion of the bar and engaging one edge of the board, said legbeing spring biased toward the other second end portion of the bar forretaining said end portions of the bar in engagement with opposite edgeportions of the sheet supporting board spaced different ydistances apartand for causing the end portions of the bar to yieldably grip said edgeportions of the board.

3. A sheet positioning device as in claim 2, said leg having struck-outtangs disposed beneath its upper free end and extending toward saidsecond end of the bar and adapted to engage under a portion of the sheetsupporting board.

4. A sheet positioning device as in claim 3, said second end of the barincluding a latch portion extending downwardly and inwardly from theupper portion of the bar.

5. A sheet positioning device as in claim 1, each of said sheet engagingmembers having a folded end portion engaging the upper and lower sidesand around one edge of the bar and having hook-like extensions at oneend of said folded portion engaging around the other edge of the bar andcombining with the folded portion to form said slide.

6. A sheet positioning device as in claim 5, said tongue extending fromthe opposite end of said folded portion between said hook-likeextensions.

7. A sheet guide attachment for a printing press feed board comprisingan elongated bar having a top portion adapted to be disposed over aportion of the upper surface of a feed board and having turned down endsadapted to engage opposite edges of the board for detachablyV mountingthe bar thereon, one of said turned down ends having an upwardlyextending resilient leg spring biased toward the other bar end `andincluding an upper free end portion terminating beneath said top portionand yieldably engaging against an edge of the board, and a plurality ofsheet positioning members slidably mounted on and embracing said topportion of the bar for adjustment longitudinally thereof and each havinga tongue disposed below the level of the top portion of the bar andprovided with lan upstanding wall portion spaced from the ends of thetongue and laterally spaced from the bar and disposed parallel to theaxis of the bar, said wall portions forming abutments adapted to engageagainst an edge of a sheet supported on the feed board and havingportions resting on parts of said tongues.

8. A feeder board attachment as in claim 7, said resilient leg having astruck-out tang spaced from its upper end and adapted to bear against aportion of the underside of the feeder board.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS442,255 Jones Dec. 9, 1890 1,069,606 Dyer Aug. 5, 1913 1,074,861 HarmonyOct. 7, 1913 1,170,274 Karl Feb. 1, 1916 1,385,169 Bradley July 19, 19211,720,655 Brown July 9, 1929 1,900,064 Maarsen Mar. 7, 1933 2,628,558Levin Feb. 17, 1953

